Detroit, Royal Oak Welcome The Holidays

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It’s time to get into the holiday spirit in downtown Detroit and Royal Oak.

The City of Detroit will welcome thousands of people to Campus Martius Park Friday evening for the annual lighting of Detroit’s Christmas tree.

Events begin at 6 p.m. The tree lighting is expected at approximately 8 p.m. The program features a variety of winter fun events including special ice skating performances, as well as entertainment.

The public will be allowed to ice skate until midnight at the rink at Campus Martius.

In addition to the tree lighting, there will be a special ceremony featuring the lighting of the World’s Tallest Red Kettle which stands approximately 56 feet tall and is 24 feet wide. 25,000 lights will be turned on around 6:45 p.m. All day Friday the Red Kettle sponsor Quicken Loans will match each donation given at metro Detroit kettle sites, up to $25,000. Money placed in Red Kettle’s helps the Salvation Army.

The holiday spirit spreads to Royal Oak Saturday as the city puts on its annual parade at 10 a.m. on Washington Avenue.

Floats, high school bands, and Santa and Mrs. Claus will begin their march at Lincoln Avenue and continue north to Fourth Street.

People are being asked to bring new, unwrapped toys to the parade to be collected by Marines as part of their Toys for Tots campaign.

After the parade, children can visit Santa from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Stagecrafters.